Corset's come-hither look makes a stylish comeback

Few articles of clothing have been as revered and reviled as the corset. Fans of the figure-hugging garment like the way it smoothes the torso, cinches the waist and pushes up the bosom.

Detractors have assailed it as yet another symbol of the oppression of women, whose bodies must be molded into fashion, at great discomfort, for the enjoyment of men.

Love them or loathe them, corsets are again in fashion, just as they were in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Centuries. Some designs are meant to be worn as undergarments, primarily with wedding gowns and other formal attire. Others are likely to be worn as an outergarment--to dinner at a chic restaurant or with jeans to a trendy nightclub.

Corsets and corset-inspired looks were all over the runways for spring. John Galliano trimmed a boned style in white fur while Valentino fashioned one in pale pink satin and accented it with lace.

Narciso Rodriguez cuts his dresses so snugly to the body that they look like corsets, and Betsy Johnson's corset-topped dress was rimmed in ribbons. Corset details such as boning and lacing appeared on everything from tank tops to evening gowns.

In the open

Retailers and fashion observers cite several reasons why lingerie influences are no longer under wraps. First, style is all about femininity these days, with girlish prints, soft fabrics and silhouettes and such trims as ruffles and lace.

Second, "corsets minimize the waist and enhance the bustline, a look that's in the forefront now," said Nancy Sagar, spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus. "There's also a mysterious aura to a corset because it's typically an undergarment, so wearing it out is a very sexy look. Years ago people wouldn't have dared to wear something like that. Now it's normal.

"Women are very much into their bodies," she said. "With all the exercise and dieting they're doing, they want to show off their assets."

Women can thank such pop-music icons as Madonna for the continuing popularity of the underwear-as-outerwear trend. For the cover of her "Like a Virgin" album in 1984, she wore a corset-like top.

"Madonna brought it out of the closet," said Colette Wong, who teaches intimate apparel at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Twenty years after Madonna made her splash, women "have much more freedom and say in what they wear and how they want to look," Wong said.

Corsets once were thought of as being restrictive and keeping a woman in line, but today, "if this is what she wants, she's going to do it," Wong said.

That old regal feeling

"The fascination with corsets comes from the fact that you become much more regal when you wear it; your stature is much better," Wong said. "Today's woman likes that feeling."

Wong also talks with her classes about the corset as part of fetish wear. "Ten years ago I would have never thought of mentioning it, but today there is a market for it and it has crossed over to the mainstream," she said. "In today's world women are much more comfortable about talking about sex."

Corsets date to Grecian times, but it wasn't until the 17th Century in Spain that they became widespread for women. "It looked like armor, binding the bust and flattening the body," Wong said.

Each century brought its own shape, she said, noting that the hourglass look that most associate with corsets was prevalent in the 19th Century.

Exaggerated horror

It wasn't long before the garment had its detractors in the 1800s. Tightly laced garments could restrict a woman's ability to breathe, let alone do useful work. But the idea that women's health in that era was compromised by wearing tightly laced corsets was inaccurate, writes fashion historian Caroline Cox.

"Women's waists were never really that small. The popular notion that some Victorian women went to the lengths of having ribs removed to create a tiny waist is a myth."

Most of the corsets Cindy Johnson sells at Sol, her Denver lingerie store, are meant to be worn under other garments, but she also stocks specialty designs such as a $300-plus Chantal Thomass corset printed with musical notes and trimmed in floral embroidery.

What women love about corsets, she said, "is they are function and fantasy together. This is something you do for yourself."